Since the introduction of AI-supported search summaries in the USA, Google has been confronted with a series of embarrassing and disturbing errors. One user reported a suggestion to fix the cheese on a pizza with non-toxic glue. Further reports claimed that dogs had played in the NBA and NFL, and that Barack Obama had been the first Muslim president of the USA.

These AI-generated summaries, known as "AI Overviews", are intended to provide users with quick answers instead of presenting a list of web links. However, the feature reveals significant weaknesses: The AI often seems unable to distinguish between serious information and satire or jokes. Thus, some absurd claims referred to fun posts or articles from the satire website "The Onion", such as the recommendation to eat a small stone daily.

Google Plans to Roll Out This Feature in More Countries by the End of the Year. However, Website Operators and Media Fear AI Summaries Might Reduce Traffic to Their Sites. Google Retorts That Sources in the Overviews Could Even See Increased Traffic Without Clarifying How This Applies to the Rest of the Websites.

A Google spokeswoman explained to the tech blog "The Verge" that the errors were due to "very unusual requests" and would not reflect the typical user experience. These "isolated examples" would be used to improve the product.

Already in February, Google had to endure ridicule when the AI program Gemini generated images of non-white Nazi soldiers and American settlers. Google admitted that it had failed to program exceptions for such cases and temporarily stopped Gemini from creating images of people.

The NASDAQ-listed Alphabet stock rose by 0.42 percent in pre-market trading to $175.79.